Actions

Brown County mother claims bus driver is bullying her son and the district won't do address it

BROWN COUNTY, Ind. -- A Brown County mother who claims her son is being bullied by his bus driver says the school system won’t do anything about it.

Abby Rankin says her 14-year-old son has been having issues with his bus driver for the past two years and she says she’s brought it to the school’s attention on multiple occasions.

“She cusses at them, she tells them to shut up,” said Rankin. “That’s just not the way you talk to my children. I don’t like that.”

Rankin said the administration admits there’s a ‘personality issue” between the bus driver and her son, but they aren’t planning to make any changes.

After an altercation last week, Rankin said her son was suspended from riding the bus and she was never even notified.

“She shut the door in his face,” said Rankin.

When she tried to find out why her son’s bus privileges were removed the school system didn’t give her the answers she wanted.

“All they said was he became very upset, became aggressive toward the bus driver. He was hitting the side of the bus. Which, Nick does get a little upset over things – but the whole story would’ve been nice,” said Rankin.

When she asked the district to show her proof of her son’s actions she was told she couldn’t see the video because it would violate another child’s privacy.

The superintendent of Brown County Schools says she has not had any other issues reported on this particular bus driver.

Rankin has asked that her son be moved to a different bus route and the schools say they are willing to make that switch as long as there are other buses in the area.

“We are committed to a collaborative effort with the parents and fundamentally want to make sure the student has a safe and successful experience on the way to school.”